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"Gambling destroys lives" 08.07.08

Get help before it's too late

A LOCAL addiction counsellor has urged men and women in Inishowen who fear they're in the grip of gambling to come forward for help.
Fr. James Sweeney who counsels people with addiction problems at White Oaks Rehabilitation Centre in Muff said gambling was on the increase across the North West as it was nationally.
And while there was a growing number of places to gamble on the high street, he warned that online gambling was also "becoming a huge problem".
The IOSAS centre at White Oaks. "The problem with gambling on the internet is that it is a secretive pursuit that can be done on the home computer or anywhere else using a laptop. When it's quite hidden it can be difficult to detect," said Fr. Sweeney, who also counsels people at the North West Counselling Centre in Donegal
Town.
"People get a taster for something like bingo online and then they move on to much bigger stuff. They use their credit cards and before they know it they have built up huge debts that they can't pay back."
Fr. Sweeney said gambling was a particularly insidious addiction in that people could keep betting until they had nothing left.
"People with gambling addiction can end up broke and homeless and it can break up marriages. It can have the same consequences as drink or drug addiction," he added. He said that the typical gender breakdown for gambling addiction was around two men to every one woman but the female trend was, like alcohol misuse, on the rise.
Meanwhile, Buncrana Councillor Padraig MacLochlainn recently raised concerns about the growing number of betting shops and amusement arcades in his hometown while others point to the ready availability of the National Lottery, scratch cards and EuroMillions tickets in many grocery shops.
Fr. Sweeney acknowledged that easy access to gambling made rehabilitation more difficult for people with gambling addiction. But he urged people to come forward soon rather than later. "I would encourage people who fear they may be developing a gambling addiction to come forward for help rather than let it get out of control."
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